MYTHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE LINGUISTIC WORLDVIEW (THE MOON AND THE SUN IN PHRASEOLOGY)

Abstract

In the focus of the article there is the problem of hidden mythological seman- tics of lexical (more broadly — phraseological) units in the Slavic and Germanic (English) languages. Often the lack of proper attention to this problem leads to inaccurate, inappropriate, superficial translation or to incorrect assessment of certain fragments of folklore texts of various genres in their ethnolinguistic study. Being «erased» on the surface of linguistic consciousness, which in the course of evolution has developed new stereotypes, the structures of mythological think- ing are often preserved at the level of lexical semantics and in the semantics of phraseological units. The mythological plane of the semantics of linguistic units is an important level of such a complex object of linguistics as the linguistic picture of the world, since it largely determines the specificity and originality of linguistic thinking, while remaining implicit, hidden behind the everyday, habitual meaning. On the example of microtexts (established figurative phrases) with two oppo- site ancient concepts «the moon» and «the sun», the commonality and difference in the mythological semantics of the units of the Slavic and English languages are shown. The relevant differential features of the Slavic and Germanic worldviews are emphasized.